Kenichi Sawai

Kenichi Sawai 健一澤井 (1903–1988) was a Japanese martial artist and a colonel in the Japanese army.^[1] He was an associate of Mas Oyama.^[2]

Having achieved a fourth-dan grade in judo and a fifth-dan in kendo, Kenichi visited Beijing in 1939 to challenge Wang Xiangzhai, the founder of yiquan. He made several attempts to defeat Wang, including one where he fought with a shinai whilst Wang used only a stick. However, Kenich was soundly defeated each time. Kenichi subsequently applied to study under Wang, and was accepted. However, virtually all of his training was provided by Wang's student, Yao Zongxun.^[1][3]

Kenichi subsequently returned to Japan, where he introduced a slightly modified version of yiquan which he called Taikiken.^[4][5][6]

References

1. Paul Dong; Thomas Raffill (10 December 2005). Empty Force: The Power of Chi for Self-Defense and Energy Healing. Blue Snake Books. pp. 39–40. ISBN 978-1-58394-134-8.
2. "Yiquan". Enso Martial Arts. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
3. C S Tang (21 March 2015). The Complete Book of Yiquan. Jessica Kingsley Publishers. pp. 39–40. ISBN 978-0-85701-172-5.
4. Martial Arts of the World: R-Z. ABC-CLIO. p. 776. ISBN 978-1-57607-150-2.
5. Chris Crudelli (1 October 2008). The Way of the Warrior. Dorling Kindersley Limited. p. 87. ISBN 978-1-4053-3095-4.
6. Guangxi Wang (9 March 2012). Chinese Kung Fu. Cambridge University Press. p. 90. ISBN 978-0-521-18664-3.